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TODAY´S NEWS

INCablenet to cut down headends

In a bid to centralise operations and gain control over the network, the Hinduja-owned INCablenet has decided to reduce its headends from 52 last year to 20. While in Delhi, the plan is to bring down the headends from 14 to just four, Ahmedabad will be reduced from three to two.

According to company sources, the plan is to have a centralised headend in each city where the cable network has a presence. In few cities, the company will have a few standby headends. INCablenet, as a form of appeasement, has allocated to its distributors five channels, which they can run by choice. Two out of the five channels will be reserved to take care of local preference of customers. Operators can run local ads on their channels while INCablenet will take the entire revenue from corporate ads. The operators will not be permitted to run any unauthorised channels.

Distributors, in return, will have to ensure a 50 per cent increase in connectivity of subscribers over a few months. The franchisee fee in Mumbai will be Rs 100 a month per subscriber while in several other places it has been increased to Rs 120. The upgradation of the network in several areas to 860 MHz has allowed an increase in menu of channels offered to subscribers.